RARE paintings housed in Perthshire galleries are among those taking their places in a national online exhibition.

The Public Catalogue Foundation, in partnership with the BBC, has added 4000 oil paintings from public collections across Central Scotland to the ‘Your Paintings’ website.

Backed by the Scottish Government, the project is seeking to create a complete online catalogue of every oil painting in the UK.

The latest additions mean there are now 15,000 paintings from over 60 collections across Scotland on the site, with all 35,000 oil paintings in Scottish public collections expected to be online by the end of the year.

Works by Fergusson, Opie, Lowry, Millais, Peploe, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Raeburn have all been added, along with paintings held by Perth’s Fergusson Gallery.

Andrew Dixon, chief executive of Creative Scotland, said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with the Public Catalogue Foundation on this innovative project that sees our national collections being shared within the UK and internationally.

“Art lovers from across Scotland are now able to feast their eyes on works from right across the country.”

Liz Grant, Perth and Kinross Council’s lifelong learning convener, added: “It is very exciting to be involved in such a large scale national project.

“It will be hugely beneficial to be able to share information on our collections with the public in this way. The support of the PCF has enabled us to digitise our oil paintings on a scale that would not have been possible otherwise.

“This is a very worthwhile project that will provide a valuable resource that will be used for years to come.”

To help the BBC and PCF identify and catalogue what can be seen in each painting, the public is being invited to ‘tag’ the works online.